I ka 'olelo no ke ola, i ka 'olelo no ka make

He leo aloha kēia iā 'oukou e nā hoa pepeiao! E ola ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i. Indeed, the Hawaiian language lives. As I think about our language one particular 'ōlelo no'eau keeps coming to my mind. I ka 'ōlelo nō ke ola, i ka 'ōlelo nō ka make, in the language there is life, in the language there is death. Now, I know I've shared this one before and we've talked about how there is mana in the spoken word. Our words can used in both positive and negative ways and words have a lasting impression on us. Let's look at this proverb from a slightly different perspective today. In the language there is life. When we learn our mother tongue and then when we use what we have learned, and speak the words, our language becomes alive and our culture more vibrant. When we do not learn our language and we do not speak Hawaiian, there is death. For many years our language suffered and was on the verge of extinction. People were forced to speak English, punished for speaking Hawaiian. Hawaiian was not heard very often in public, if at all and those who spoke it often felt ashamed. But today, things have changed. We hear our language being spoken in public, on the radio, even on television. You can hear a daily news program in Hawaiian. You can read newspapers written in Hawaiian. You can even legally write your checks in Hawaiian. Times have changed. Now why is it so important to speak Hawaiian? You see, when a culture loses it's language, it ceases to exist. Our language is vital to the perpetuation of our Hawaiian culture, of our people, of the legacy left for us by our kūpuna. No laila, so then, if you don't speak Hawaiian yet, it's never too late. E ola ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i! Aloha nō, a hui hou.

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